WATCH LIVENCAA.com will provide live video coverage, free of charge, for all matches of this week’s NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship. Navigate to that day’s game on the Schedule/Results page at UCSDtritons.com to access a link, or go to NCAA.com.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?UCSD earned an automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship by virtue of its third Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) title. UCSD posted a strong 10-8 victory over 11th-ranked rival Loyola Marymount in the championship game on Apr. 28. The winner of the WWPA is one of four teams to receive an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament every year. UCSD earned the No. 5 seed at this year’s event, where it will match up with fourth-seeded Hawai’i, the Big West Conference champion. The championship is a single-elimination tournament, with a loser’s bracket to determine places three through eight.

SECOND MEETING OF 2013 ON TAP AGAINST UHThe Tritons and Rainbow Wahine met once already this year, at the Hawai’i Spring Break Tournament on Mar. 30. UH had a 2-1 edge at the end of the first, but UCSD came back with three goals to tie it up at 4-4 by halftime. UCSD tied the game again at 5-5 on a goal from Rachel Brooks. Hawai’i carried a 7-5 lead into the final frame, however, and ultimately took the match, 9-6. Melissa Bartow led the Tritons with two goals.

2011 FLASHBACKUCSD last earned the WWPA’s automatic bid into the NCAA Championship in 2011, placing seventh as the No. 7 seed in Ann Arbor, Mich. UCSD began the tournament by dropping a 13-5 decision to second-ranked California. The Tritons were edged by Indiana the following day, 11-8. Taking on Iona in the seventh-place match on the final morning, UCSD cruised to a 15-9 victory behind five goals by Sarah Lizotte, then a freshman. All five goals came in the first half, and served as a single-game season high for UCSD. Lizotte had a team-best nine goals at the NCAA Championship. Kirsten Bates made the All-Tournament Second Team.

LIZOTTE NAMED WWPA PLAYER OF THE YEARJunior Sarah Lizotte was named on Apr. 22 as the 2013 Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Player of the Year, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Lizotte leads the Tritons in goals with 83 on the year, good for the No. 4 spot on the program’s single-season top-10 list. As a junior, the utility player has tallied 220 career goals, making her way up the career record book at No. 2 on the top-10 list. This season, Lizotte has scored three or more goals on 15 different occasions, with a single-game high of six against Sonoma State. The Player of the Year honor is the first of the Riverside native’s career, while she is now a two-time All-WWPA First Team selection. Lizotte has received conference recognition for her play throughout the season, earning KAP7 Player of the Week honors on three separate occasions; Jan. 30, Mar. 13 and Apr. 10.

LION TAMERSUCSD took down LMU for the third time this season with its 10-8 victory in the WWPA Championship final, Apr. 28. The Lions and Tritons have gone back and forth the past four seasons for the league title. UCSD previously took the crown in 2011, when LMU was the preseason favorite to win, as the Tritons pulled out a 13-11 upset victory in Hayward before placing seventh at the NCAA Championship in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Lions won in 2010 and again in 2012, defeating UCSD 7-6 at Canyonview Pool in La Jolla.

BE SOCIALYou can now follow UCSD head coach Brad Kreutzkamp and get his own perspective on the team through Twitter. Follow @UCSDcoachK for an in-depth look at the Triton women’s water polo program. In addition, you can always keep in touch with UCSD Athletics through @UCSDtritons and facebook.com/UCSDtritons.